Initiative to recall three Bell City Council members qualifies for ballot

By John Rogers

Associated Press

Posted:
10/26/2010 02:56:28 PM PDT

Updated:
10/26/2010 04:08:00 PM PDT

LOS ANGELES -- Residents of the working class city of Bell have gathered enough signatures to put an initiative on the ballot aimed at ousting three City Council members accused of participating in a pay scandal, a city official said today.

The recall will target Bell's mayor, vice mayor and another member of the council. A fourth member has resigned.

Petition signatures were validated by Los Angeles County election officials and now go to the City Council for the calling of an election, Bell City Clerk Rebecca Valdez said.

The council was expected to take up the matter Monday.

"That's great news," said Ali Saleh, a co-founder of the Bell Association to Stop the Abuse, a grass-roots group that spearheaded the recall after learning four council members and several city administrators were making huge salaries to run the city of about 40,000 people.

Former City Manager Robert Rizzo had a salary and compensation package of $1.5 million a year when numerous perks like vacation, insurance and other benefits were added to his $787,637 annual salary.

The City Council members targeted for recall were paid nearly $100,000 a year for their service on the panel that meets about once a month. Several other city officials, including the former police chief and former city manager, were also drawing big salaries.

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Eight people, including Rizzo, have been charged with misappropriating $5.5 million in city funds.

"The community has been through a lot and this is part of the healing process, that they can get rid of the current council and choose who they want," said Saleh, a lifelong Bell resident.

He and other members of the group spent less than a month going door-to-door to gather about 4,000 signatures.

Signatures from about 2,100 residents, or 20 percent of the city's registered voters, were needed to call the election.

The recall drive originally targeted Mayor Oscar Hernandez, Vice Mayor Teresa Jacobo, Councilman George Mirabal and Councilman Luis Artiga. Artiga has since resigned and announced his support for the recall.